It’s not exactly a radical proposal, at least from a mathematical perspective, where the bigger the initial investment, the greater the reward at the end of 30 or more years of compounding interest. For years this laddering-up of retirement savings has been presented as the best way to prepare.

But to Millennials burdened with student debt, rent and mortgages, car payments and, increasingly, the cost of raising children, the math of the argument is easily lost in the pressures of day-to-day budgeting.

According to Clark Howard, it’s also important to reduce debt to or as close as possible to zero to increase freedom and spending power in retirement years.

As the saying goes, you’re not getting any younger. At 30, retirement seems a distant dream, but the reality is that it gets here faster than almost anyone expects. Planning well by reducing debt and saving as much as possible, increases the likelihood that those retirement years are comfortable and happy.

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